John Blackshoe Sends: Serendipity
History –
Halloween
1898- “Who Stole the Beer?”
The Crime; the Victims; and the
Perps.
Part 2 of 4- The Victims- 12th New York Volunteer Infantry
12th
New York enlistments at their armory in 1898
Source: http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-lost-12th-regiment-armory-columbus.html
The only image found for this unit is one of enlistments taking
place at their New Yawk City Armory at Columbus Avenue at 61st
Street. This armory was opened in 1887,
and “[t]housands of invitations were sent out, it is said, but after about 3000
people were admitted to the armory, the rest were kept out at the point of the
bayonet.”
The 12th New York Volunteer Infantry was mustered into service on May 13,
1898 at Peekskill, New York. At the time of muster in, the unit consisted of 43
officers and 978 enlisted men. Initially, the unit was first sent to Camp
Thomas at Chickamauga, Georgia. Conditions in this camp were terrible. It was
overcrowded, unsanitary, and disease-ridden.
Following muster into federal service at Peekskill, NY on May 13, 1898,
they arrived by choo-choo near Chattanooga, TN at Camp Thomas on the
Chickamauga battlefield on May 20th.
Life at Camp Thomas was grueling with limited water, poor food and lots
of disease. Many units were quickly
sent to Tampa for the Cuban invasion, but the 12th NY was not one of
them.
As the summer passed, Spanish forces world-wide suffered defeats and the
likelihood of the 12th being needed for combat swindled. So, they remained at Camp Thomas until August
24th when they were sent to Lexington, KY.
At Camp Hamilton, even prior to the shooting and beer theft, the
12th’s conduct was not exemplary.
The October 9th Shooting and
Aftermath
The Regiment was outraged on October 9th, when one of
its members was shot dead by the Provost Marshalls (Military Police) in
Lexington, as reported on the front page of the New York Times:
Source: New York Times, October 11, 1898, page 1. (Clipped and made to two columns)
Apparently a similar story ran in the Lexington Herald (copy not
found) but this incensed the Commander o the 12th New York, who
defended the conduct and honor of his troops with the following:
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader,
October 13, 1898, page 5.
As the uproar over this shooting was calming, Halloween arrived,
and so did the shipment of beer for the 12th New York to enjoy. But, someone else got most of it!
Although some sources suggest that the theft was widely reported
and the brewers dropped their charges due to free publicity, I found nothing to
confirm that, but it sounds plausible.
After the beer theft, their enlistments continued to drag on. Finally,
… on November 13th the regiment
departed Lexington for Americus, GA where a new camp was set up. On December
26th the 12th Regiment left camp en route for Cuba, where it arrived on the 1st
of January 1899 and took up garrison duty at Matanzas and Cardenas. On March
20th, 1899 the regiment was sent home to New York City where it arrived on
March 27th and was mustered out on April 20th, 1899.
Source:
The unit was mustered out of service on April 20, 1899 at New York City.
At the time of muster out, it consisted of 46 officers and 945 men. During its
term of service, the unit suffered from high losses. Twenty-three enlisted men
died of disease, one man died as the result of an accident, and one man
committed suicide. Forty-seven additional men were discharged on disability.
Ninety-one men deserted!
Losses by unit. All started with about 50 officers and 1,000
enlisted, with some
replacements arriving during their service period. Source:
|
12th |
160th
Indiana |
3rd
Kentucky |
OFFICER
losses |
|
|
|
Resigned or discharged |
30 |
7 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
ENLISTED
losses |
|
|
|
Transferred |
13 |
69 |
27 |
Discharged-disability |
47 |
59 |
60 |
Discharged- courts martial |
- |
- |
8 |
Discharged by order |
210 |
117 |
129 |
Death from disease |
23 |
11 |
17 |
Death- accidental |
1 |
- |
2 |
Murder or homicide |
- |
1 |
1 |
Suicide |
1 |
- |
- |
Deserted |
91 |
15 |
56 |
TOTAL
ENLISTED LOSSES |
386 |
272 |
300 |
|
|
|
|
Another wonderful piece making history come alive.
ReplyDeleteHow did you stumble onto this? Good stuff.
Very interesting posts JB, thanks. The Lexington railroad officials to the 12th New York....."Now youse can't leave".........holding the train.....:)
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